Alcohol Licensee Guide: An Overview of Underage Drinking, RI Laws, and Responsible Alcohol Sales COMMUNITY GUIDE PARTNERSHIP This guide was made possible through a Partnerships For Success Grant from the RI Department of Behavioral Healthcare, Developmental Disabilities, and Hospitals: DISCLAIMER As a licensee, you are responsible for maintaining a safe, regulated business and shoulder many responsibilities which include preventing underage sales and consumption of alcoholic beverages. This publication was designed to support you in understanding the facts of alcohol education and prevention and Rhode Island’s laws and regulations. This is an informational tool only, not a legal document. Nothing printed on these pages changes, replaces, or supersedes RI statutes, rules and regulations or any other statute, Administrative Procedure Act (APA) decision or judicial decision. Our main goal is to provide you with the tools and knowledge you need to help you maintain compliance and run a successful and safe business. You are an important partner in our mission of public safety and serve a vital role within the community. 1 COMMUNITY GUIDE PARTNERSHIP A LETTER TO OUR BUSINESS PARTNERS Thank you for taking the time to read this guide. We hope it will be a useful tool for your business. The Blackstone Valley Prevention Coalition (BVPC) is a regional coalition of community members who come together with a mission to develop, implement, and advocate for e!ective community-based prevention initiatives. An important part of our mission is to work with businesses licensed to sell and/or serve alcohol and support them in understanding the risks related to underage drinking along with the Rhode Island laws that are related to it. We are here to assist you and to partner with you. We understand the major responsibilities that you have as a licensee. We have developed this guide with that in mind. We want to help you to: • Understand the damaging physical and mental health e!ects of underage drinking • Educate yourself and your employees about RI laws related to selling and/or serving alcohol to underage youth • Have access to valuable training and resources for your business and employees • Protect your business from "nes, suspensions, loss of license and/or other "nancial losses due to selling and/or serving alcohol to underage youth • Be recognized as a leader/partner in the Blackstone Valley region who is working to prevent underage drinking Thank you, -Blackstone Valley Prevention Coalition FACTS ABOUT UNDERAGE DRINKING DEFINITION • “Underage” is any youth/young adult who has NOT reached the age of 21. STATISTICS • Underage drinking is a serious public health problem in the U.S. Alcohol is the most widely used substance of abuse among America’s youth, and drinking by young people poses enormous health and safety risks.1 • Youth aged 12 - 20 drink 11% of alcohol consumed in the U.S.2 • According to the 2018 National Survey on Drug Use and Health:# 18.8% of youth ages 12–20 reported drinking alcohol in past month. � � 11.4% of youth ages 12–20 reported binge drinking in past month. • SAMHSA’S 2018 RI State Report on Underage Drinking showed:$ � RI had a total of 125,000 youth between ages 12-20 � 28.7% of youth reported drinking alcohol in the past month Ages 12-20... 28.7%... 36,000 youth Ages 12-14... 2.8%.... 1,000 youth Ages 15-17... 21.6%... 9,000 youth Ages 18-20... 52.8%... 26,000 youth � Rhode Island’s data regarding underage youth (ages 12-20) who drank in the past month are higher than the national average. • Key !nding of the “Behavioral Health in RI (2019): State Epidemiological Pro!le”:% � Alcohol use and binge drinking rates by 12-20 year olds in RI are higher than the national average and the 3rd highest in the northeast region. 3 COMMUNITY GUIDE PARTNERSHIP HOW ALCOHOL AFFECTS THE BRAIN Drinking alcohol a"ects the way your brain works – Cerebral Cortex: This is the main area changing everything from involved in thinking, decision-making, emotions and the five senses. Alcohol’s effects on this area the way you act, to your can impair your ability to think clearly and lower your inhibitions. It may make you act without ability to walk. Some e!ects thinking or make you angry for no reason. Alcohol can be long-lasting. Learn may affect your senses, such as blurring your vision. Long-term alcohol abuse can permanently about how alcohol a!ects damage this region. di!erent parts of the brain. Cerebellum: Hippocampus: Your memory This part of the brain is is controlled by the hippocampus. important for coordinating Drinking a lot of alcohol at one time many of your daily can cause you to blackout, or forget movements, such as a period of time. Long-term alcohol walking and grabbing abuse can permanently damage objects. Alcohol can slow the hippocampus, making it difficult your reflexes. It may cause for a person to learn. you to lose your balance or make your hand shake. Medulla: Hypothalamus: Many body Involuntary processes, such processes, such as heart rate Central Nervous System: as breathing and maintaining and the feeling of hunger or Alcohol slows down this system, which body temperature, are thirst, are controlled in this small is made up of the brain, spinal cord, controlled here. Drinking a area. Alcohol can slow your and nerves. That affects how signals lot of alcohol at one time can heart rate and may make you flow through your body, making you shut down the medulla, hungrier and thirstier. think, speak and move more slowly. leading to a coma. Source: Gri(th C, LaFrance, B (2018) The neural e!ects of alcohol. Med Case Rep Rev 1. DOI: 10.15761MCRR. 1000116 Alcohol and Teenage Brain Development Drinking is more harmful to teens because their brains are still developing well into young adulthood. Drinking during this critical growth period can lead to lifelong damage in brain function, particularly memory, motor skills and coordination.& According to MADD, youth who begin to drink before age 15 are 6 times more likely to develop alcohol dependence or abuse later in life than those who begin at age 21 or older.' 4 CONSEQUENCES OF UNDERAGE DRINKING Underage drinking is dangerous and can cause negative consequences for youth and others. UNDERAGE DRINKING SUBSTANTIALLY INCREASES POSSIBILITY OF:) • Doing poorly in school • Aggressive or violent behavior • Poor judgment/decision making • Depression and suicide • Accidents, injuries or death • Developing alcohol addiction • Decreased inhibitions • Problems with the law • Engaging in risky sexual activity • Misusing other drugs • Physical and sexual assault • Altered brain functioning 1 in 4 car crashes with teenagers involve an underage drunk driver. -MADD UNDERAGE DRINKING RELATED DEATHS 32% 3% 30% 1% 14% 1% 9% 1% 9% Estimates come from FBI, CDC and NHTSA data. Data is for deaths involving 15 to 20 year-old underage drinkers. Details at madd.org. COMMUNITY GUIDE PARTNERSHIP 5 STANDARD DRINK SIZE In the United States, a standard drink is any drink that contains about 0.6 !uid ounces or 14 grams of pure alcohol (also known as an alcoholic drink-equivalent). Although the drinks pictured below are di!erent sizes, each contains approximately the same amount of alcohol and counts as one U.S. standard drink or one alcoholic drink-equivalent.* WHAT IS A STANDARD DRINK? 12 fl oz of = 8-9 fl oz of = 5 fl oz of = 1.5 fl oz shot of regular beer malt liquor table wine distilled spirits (Shown in a 12 oz glass) (gin, rum, tequila, vodka, whiskey, etc.) = BEER about 5% about 7% about 12% about 40% alcohol alcohol alcohol alcohol Each beverage portrayed above represents one standard drink of “pure” alcohol, defined in the United States as 0.6 fl oz or 14 grams. The percent of pure alcohol, expressed here as alcohol by volume (alc/vol), varies within and across beverage types. Although the standard drink amounts are helpful for following health guidelines, they may not reflect customary serving sizes. Source: “Rethinking Drinking”, revised 2016, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism Keep in mind that standard drink sizes are not always what a customary drink size is. For example, a mixed drink can have multiple shots of alcohol in it. While it is one serving size, the amount of alcohol in it is more than one standard drink. To learn more, visit “Rethinking Drinking” at: https://www.rethrinkingdrinking.niaaa.nigh.gov/Tools/Calculators/Default.aspx. It includes tools that calculate how much alcohol is in a mixed drink and drink sizes. 6 BLOOD ALCOHOL CONCENTRATION (BAC) As a licensee, it is critical that you and your employees know and recognize the typical e!ects of alcohol blood concentration levels. The graphic below identi"es what happens as a person's blood alcohol concentration increases. The left side shows the typical physical and psychological e!ects that occur. The right side shows the typical e!ects that the BAC level has on a person's ability to drive. Because it is di(cult to know what a person's actual BAC is, this will assist in providing context as you observe your customers and determine if you need to stop serving them. Ultimately, it will help to keep them and others safe. BLOOD ALCOHOL CONCENTRATION AND ITS EFFECTS Source: High Impact It is important to be aware that an individual’s tolerance to alcohol may mask their actual BAC. A person with a high tolerance to alcohol may not display the typical signs of being intoxicated. COMMUNITY GUIDE PARTNERSHIP 7 BAC AND BINGE DRINKING Factors that a"ect BAC level include:10, 11 • Strength of Drink - amount of • Mixers - carbonated beverages speed alcohol in a drink up alcohol absorption • Rate of Consumption - the liver • Medications and other drugs - can metabolizes 1 standard drink/hour have dangerous results • Weight - people who weigh less are • Gender - women reach a higher BAC more a!ected by alcohol more quickly because they have • Water - dilutes alcohol in the body more fat and less muscle to absorb alcohol than men • Food - eating slows down absorption of alcohol BINGE DRINKING Binge drinking is a pattern of drinking a large amount of alcohol in a short period of time that brings a person’s blood alcohol concentration to the point of intoxication.